The latitude of Dishi Port is 10 degrees north latitude, and the sun near the equator is strong and scorching, so he climbed down from the Zhiwu and took a small boat, Qin Lun wiped his sweat all the way and boarded the dock with sweat.

According to later speculations, the garrison of Dishi Port was only 200 men, and the history of Rome did not specifically write about these garrisons, which puzzled Chinese historians. Actually, this was nothing to Rome: the caravans were the main source of tax revenue for the Empire, and when the Imperial government collected the taxes, it had to provide all the caravans with a government product: armed protection. That is, these people were merely the protectors of the fleet, and every caravan had such an army, and this caravan was exactly the same, and it was not worth writing about—even if it sailed as far as Dishi.

Historically, Chinese merchants were also active in Dishi Port, and the headland where Dishi Port is located is still named after the Chinese name: Jinou Peninsula Jinoujiao. Unfortunately, in Chinese history, merchants have always been lowly, and we have not sent troops to protect them, and we have never stationed troops to assert sovereignty over the Vietnamese Peninsula, an East Asian trade transit point adjacent to Qiongzhou. And Liu Bei's purpose this time is to declare the sovereignty of the Han Dynasty.

By the time Qin Lun landed at the port of Dishi, the panic in the port had subsided, and a Roman officer lined up on the dock to greet him, and asked, "Guests from afar, are the goods you brought war, or silk?" ”

Qin Lunle smiled happily, as an Egyptian merchant, he never thought that he could communicate with the Roman noble officers on such an equal footing: "Your Excellency, Honorable Commander, I am the greatest lord of the Ceris Country, the benevolent and invincible noble prince Liu Bei's subordinate, the general officer in charge of foreign trade, and the noble Cheney. Nicholas. My master is a polite and noble man, and he will never go undeclared. Your Excellency, Commander, I have come to Di Shi and will sell two kinds of goods: friendship on the left hand and war on the right hand. If we gain friendship, then we will hide our right hand deeply, otherwise ......"

Qin Yan triumphantly dragged out his voice, deliberately leading but not provoking.

The Roman officer looked up at the flotilla of flags outside the harbor and said with a pale face: "Mr. General, behind us is the mighty Roman Empire. ”

Qin Yan confronted: "Your Excellency, behind us is the powerful Great Lord of the Ceris Kingdom, Rome is far away from here, and we are very close from here. ”

The Roman officer swallowed hard and asked, "Your Excellency, how can you gain your friendship?" ”

Qin Yan trembled with fat all over his body, and smiled like a flower on his face: "Your Excellency, Dishi Harbor is very large, enough to garrison another army. We demand equal garrison rights to protect our merchants; We demand that the Roman army not interfere with the free trade of merchants on both sides; We demand that the merchants of our own country be brought under our laws and judged by ourselves; We demand the treatment of Latin allies, mutual recognition of the status of nobility on both sides...... Well, that's all for now. ”

The Roman officer's face turned pale: "Your merchants are judged by yourselves—a mighty Rome will not agree to extraterritoriality." ”

Qin Yan replied unhappily: "Sir, this place is not a Roman province, the ownership of this place is not clear, we have not asked to deal with your merchants, if you can't even do this, then - declare war." You will be our slaves, waiting for the Roman Empire to redeem you. I have to remind you once again, Your Excellency, that Rome is far from here, and we are very close from here. ”

The Roman officer closed his lips and was silent for a long time, and then suddenly asked: "Your Excellency, you speak Latin so fluently, you must not be from that barbarian country of Seris. As far as I know, the Seris never learn other people's languages, they think it's razing, it's lowly. Judging by your appearance, probably Egyptian or Syrian, don't you plan for your homeland? ”

Qin Yan replied with a big grin: "Your Excellency, any country known at the moment regards its own country as the most civilized place on earth, and in their eyes, everyone else is a barbarian. It is not surprising that Cyris sees others as barbarians. My lord is the most civilized lord in the world, and he only asks Rome to give him the opportunity to associate with him on an equal footing. If we intend to engage on an equal footing in the future, please refrain from mentioning the word barbarism or barbarism.

Also, Your Excellency is right, I am a native of Alexandria (Alexandria, Egypt). Your Excellency, in Rome I did not feel the treatment of my homeland, but in Seris I became a nobleman. Now far away in Dishi, Your Excellency has asked me to plan for the motherland, Your Excellency, I am planning for the motherland, and my motherland is Seris. ”

Merchants are the most egalitarian people, and the biggest headache for rulers has always been: businessmen have never been like peasants, their property has been plundered for no reason and will only endure in silence, they always seek the most relaxed political environment, seek the fairest trading atmosphere. In order to obtain the merchants' finances and win their support, the East and the West adopted different means. Rome's Law of Nations compromised with merchants and recognized their property rights. The nations of the East resorted to more brutal plunder, tying them tightly to the land and making them untouchables.

Qin's motherland was a Roman colonial state, and the slaves of the colonial country never had a concept of a country, and wherever they lived, it was their hometown. Thus, his rebuttal left the Roman officers speechless.

Under the strong sunlight, the Roman officer looked at the Qingzhou fleet outside the harbor and said in a deep voice: "At this moment, most of the imperial caravans have returned, and the remaining merchants in the harbor are no longer enough to eat such a large amount of goods. ”

This statement is tactfully acknowledging the garrison right of Qingzhou merchant ships, Qin Lun stretched out his hand with a smile on his face, and said: "Your Excellency, Commander, you have won our friendship and avoided a war, salute you!" Your Excellency, now that the west wind is blowing, we will eat all the goods in the port, and the remaining merchant ships will continue to sail westward. If any merchant is willing to accompany him, the fleet of the Sailors of the Syris Kingdom is willing to provide protection. We are not honoured that you are willing to accompany you. ”

When the tension was over, the Roman soldiers relaxed, and the officer casually asked, "Excuse me, sir, what is your main purchase this time?" ”

Qin Lun wiped the oil and sweat on his head and replied mysteriously: "Your Excellency, our lord has taken out the best goods in the territory this time, in addition to silk and porcelain, there is also a thing called sugar, which is a kind of food. He wants to exchange them for Roman slaves, slaves who know Latin, slaves who know all kinds of crafts, and besides, he admires Roman culture and wants to get all kinds of Roman books, which were not previously mainstream, and if you participate in this trade as your commander, you will gain great benefits. Would you like to be part of our common interests? ”

The Roman soldier exclaimed, "Slaves, the last thing that Rome lacks is slaves." Our great empire, which spans Europe, Asia and Africa, has enslaved 200 million people with a population of more than 10 million, and we have slaves! Sir, if your fleet is laden with porcelain and silk, the slaves you exchange will make your ship unloadable. The Roman officer whistled loudly and replied with interest.

Qin Lun wiped the sweat beads on his face with a white cotton handkerchief, the Roman officer's eyes rose and fell with the cotton handkerchief, Qin Lun realized this, after wiping the sweat, he threw the oily handkerchief to the ground, gasped and said: "Your Excellency Commander, we do not plan to send all the slave transport countries, for the convenience of our trade in the future, we plan to expand the port of Dishi, and even expand all the ports to the south." Your Excellency, we intend to transport only slaves who know Latin and skilled craftsmen, but how many of them are there in Dese Harbor? ”

There was a whisper in the procession, and the Roman commander replied briskly, "My lord, I have three slaves brought from Rome, how much are you willing to pay for them?" ”

Qin Yan narrowed his eyes, his face was full of sinister smiles, and replied, "Three grains of sugar, how's that?" ”

Sugarcane originated in South Asia and India, and was probably introduced to southern China in ancient times, and was a high-grade fruit of the upper class before the Middle Ages. Sugarcane was called Zhe (the transliteration of Indian Sanskrit sugar) in ancient times, and it was called sugarcane from the beginning of the Six Dynasties. Brown sugar extracted from sugar cane was discovered by the Indians, and after it was introduced to China, the Chinese processed it into white sugar.

Sugar was introduced to Europe relatively late, around the 11th century AD, when the Persian king Darius invaded India and discovered sugar cane, which he called in amazement: a reed that does not fly bees but also flows honey. It was only then that sugar cane was introduced to Europe, and in the 12th century, a large French province paid a tribute of only 1.4 pounds of sugar to the French king.

Sugar is also a luxury in Qingzhou, this southward trade, considering that silk and porcelain have no monopoly on Rome, Liu Bei deliberately filled the fleet with Qingzhou candy, so that sugar could enter Europe a thousand years in advance, and use this luxury to plunder Rome's knowledge and technology. In order to render the high cost of candy, but also to keep out the tide, all candies are currently wrapped in gold leaf.

After tasting the sweetness of the candy, the Roman soldiers and the merchants in the port unanimously decided to return to Rome with the Qingzhou fleet, purchase a large number of slaves and books, and sail directly to Qingzhou to trade. After the unanimous agreement of both sides, it was decided to abandon the port of Dishi, and the two sides will move to Jinoujiao on the Jinou Peninsula, where a large deep-water port will be established as a hub for trade between the two sides, and connect to the Dongfang Port in Qiongzhou, and sail directly to Lianyun. Of course, the newly built Jin'ou Port is under the full management of the Qingzhou Naval Division.

After discussing everything, Qin Yan proudly showed to Wen Ping: "General, conquest is sometimes not necessarily achieved by force, of course, strong force is the guarantee of conquest, with strong force as the backing, with abundant funds, with mouth-watering goods, sometimes, we don't have to shed the blood of warriors......"

Wen Ping leaned over and took out a bag from inside his coat, and said: "The lord has ordered me to sail this year to the island of Bintan, and I will send five frigates to continue the southward journey with you. Acquire the manufacturing techniques of the Greek steam engine. ”

Five hundred years ago, the Colosseum began to play aqua tournaments, the arena floor was covered with waterproof canvas, filled with water, placed in boats, and gladiators demonstrated naval battles. The technique of making the canvas is essential for sailing, and in order to sail further afield, it is necessary to obtain the technique of making this sturdy cloth for sails.

Around the 100th century BC, Ciro of Greece wrote the famous Pneumatics, one of the earliest works of physics in human history. Ciro invented a machine specifically designed to pretend to be gods and ghosts in Greek temples. Believers enter the temple and light candles, the hot air produced by the burning of the candles will make the statue of the goddess Athena rotate slowly, and at the same time, the hot air produced by the lighting of many candles will make the temple door open automatically, this machine is called the wind god wheel, it is the oldest steam engine of mankind.

Liu Bei asked Qin Lun to find ways to obtain the steam engine production technology of the Greek temple three hundred years ago, so as to refer to and compare the steam engine production technology in Qingzhou and further improve his technological leadership.

Qingzhou, Liu Bei and his entourage returned to Izumo City after a few days of trekking, this was the first time Liu Bei had stepped into Izumo City for many years, but this time he entered Izumo with absolute leadership. Under the edict, Liu Bei was in Qing, You, and Hebei, and obtained complete authority over the appointment and dismissal of officials, independent taxation rights, and absolute military jurisdiction. Entering the city at this moment, the name of the King of Izumo is worthy of it.

On a cold day, the streets were crowded with welcoming crowds, and the fanatical people greeted Liu Bei with wave after wave of cheers: "Welcome, our king!" Our hosts! ”

It was night, and the cheering crowd was still unsatisfied, and gathered around the city lord's mansion, lit a fire, and danced happily. In the more than ten years since the establishment of Izumo City, these exiled people who had established themselves in the wilderness, under the protection of Liu Bei's powerful force, not only did not pay taxes to anyone else, but instead fought east and west, defeating the most powerful enemies in their vicinity. Now, from the ice-covered extreme north in the north to the sun-shrouded equatorial region in the south, the banner of the Han army has been planted.

The most important thing is that Liu Bei's purpose in entering and leaving the clouds by boat this time is to go straight down to Wanghai City in the spring, lead the army to land on the Wa Kingdom, and lay down that rich land with an area similar to Qingzhou. And the honor of this expedition actually favored the warriors of Izumo, and the people told each other: Our king has not forgotten us.

According to the military merit reward and punishment order, the service period of overseas expeditions is doubled, and Liu Bei is under the jurisdiction of the territory, the territory of the Han Dynasty is forbidden to raise slaves, but overseas territories are not within the scope of its prohibition.

"The people's hearts are available", in the city lord's mansion, Liu Bei listened to the jubilant sound outside the mansion, and proudly raised his glass to invite Zhang Liao and other generals to drink: "Qingzhou has expanded inward in the past few years, so that our territory is connected, the Central Plains War, Izumo City only participated in three corps, and now it is the turn to expand outward, is Izumo City ready?" ”

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